All things are from Krishna, through Krishna and in Krishna

God is sometimes conceived as a being who stays in and rules from his own kingdom. While such a conception addresses one feature of God’s relationship with the world, the full relationship is far more complex. We can glimpse his intricate and intimate relationship with things through three broad statements.

All things are from Krishna: The Bhagavad-gita explains that God is much more than a far-off controller. He is the source, the sustainer and the substance of all things. The Gita (07.06) states that everything that exists has its source in Krishna, conveying thereby that he is the Absolute Truth, the causeless cause of everything. Whatever exists may have come into existence through many intermediate causes, but its ultimate source is Krishna.

All things are through Krishna: Whatever happens, happens through Krishna. The Gita (13.23) states that he is the overseer and the permitter. Even when things seem to happen because of self-interested people’s misdeeds, those things have gone through Krishna as the gatekeeper before coming to us. When things go wrong, he has allowed them to go wrong so that, through his inconceivable plan, something more important will be eventually set right.

All things are in Krishna: Whatever exists, exists in Krishna. Nothing is outside of his jurisdiction. Even when people act godlessly, they are still under God’s control, having chosen to become puppets of the illusory energy, of which he is the master (07.14). Given that nothing exists outside Krishna, our desiring to exist separate from him is an illusory and impossible desire.

This same verse (07.14) also states that surrender to Krishna takes us beyond illusion. The more we surrender, the more we realize our connectedness with the one with whom we are eternally connected. That realization inspires us to increasingly harmonize with him in spiritual love.